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Question 33 of 78 · Union Executive: President, VP & PM
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The President of India who had earlier served as Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission was:

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Answer: Option C — Pranab Mukherjee

Detailed Solution

Pranab Mukherjee served as Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission from 1991 to 1996, and later became President of India in 2012.

Pranab Mukherjee's career:

  • He entered the Rajya Sabha in 1969 and became a senior Congress leader.
  • He was Union Finance Minister in the early 1980s, and again from 2009 to 2012.
  • He also served as Minister of External Affairs and Minister of Defence.
  • He was President of India from 2012 to 2017.
  • He was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 2019.

About the Planning Commission:

  • It was set up in 1950 by a resolution of the Union Cabinet, as a non-constitutional and non-statutory body.
  • The Prime Minister was its ex officio Chairman.
  • The Deputy Chairman was the de facto executive head and usually had the rank of a Cabinet Minister.
  • It prepared the Five Year Plans, which guided India's economic development.
  • It was replaced by NITI Aayog on 1 January 2015.

Other well-known Deputy Chairmen:

  • Gulzarilal Nanda was the first Deputy Chairman.
  • Montek Singh Ahluwalia served from 2004 to 2014.

Dr. Manmohan Singh also served as Deputy Chairman in the 1980s.

Pranab Mukherjee's role in economic policy:

  • As Finance Minister, he presented several Union Budgets.
  • As Deputy Chairman, he oversaw the planning process during the early years of economic liberalisation.

Other facts:

He wrote several books on Indian politics, including a memoir series on his years in government.

Why not the other options?

K.R. Narayanan was a diplomat and Vice-President before becoming President.

  • Venkataraman had been Finance Minister and Defence Minister.

Shankar Dayal Sharma had been Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and Vice-President.

None of them was Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission.

Quick tip

Remember: Pranab Mukherjee = Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission (1991 to 1996) and later President (2012 to 2017).

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Union Executive: President, VP & PM — Preparation

This question tests your understanding of Union Executive: President, VP & PM, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.

This topic covers the Union Executive: the President, the Vice-President, the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers, and the Attorney General. It includes their election or appointment, qualifications, powers, removal, and the relationship between the President and the Council of Ministers. Common questions cover the electoral college that elects the President, impeachment under Article 61, the President's ordinance-making power (Article 123) and pardoning power (Article 72), and the fact that the Vice-President is the ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. Lists of past Presidents and Prime Ministers are also tested. Practise the Union Executive questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.

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